This is a pretty cool thread... although i have only met a few athletes (all in my childhood/early teen years), my experiences were pretty awesome.

Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Jason Isrinhousin in 2001-

This might have been the coolest sports experience in my life. I was 14 at the time, and my best friend and his dad got front row home plate tickets to the A's game. His dad was real good friends with a Tech dude who owned company sponsoring the A's, so basically got hooked up from that.

So, we got a limo ride to the A's game. We went underground to where the clubhouses were and some other stuff. WE GOT PRESS PASSES!! Then, we went to see the batting practice on the field. It was surreal. Then, the coolest thing happen. Mark Mulder came to us, and just started talking... to be honest, i dont remember what we talked about, and i didnt really know who he was. Granted, it was really his breakout year as a pro. But we walked with him for a few minutes, and all i remember was how awesome this was. we later went to see Zito and Isriouhousin, who were giving autographs to fans before the game. we weren't allowed to get autographs from them but were allowed to give hi fives, which from me was good enough.

After the first 2 innings, the tech dude who was friends with my friends dad showed up, and we begin leaving... i was like "what, the game just started".... we ended up going to the guys suite. Sushi, wings, chocolate cake, and of course hot dogs was there... unbelievable. Stuff you dream about. For some people, this is a daily occurrence but as a huge baseball fan, this experience was amazing... even if it were the A's.

Steve Young- Met him/bumped into him a few times. Ran into him at the grocery store when I was with my dad... all i remember was my dad being an ass and telling him how he liked Montana better. Also, I met him one Halloween, where he gave us power bars... at the time i was like "WTF, this sucks..." but only seconds later did i realize "holy ****, that's steve young". We went to go say hi. Another time, he spoke at my friends high school graduation , so we was mingling with everyone afterwords. Seems like a very chill dude.

Roger Craig- (also when i was young) My dad worked at an auto body shop where they worked with fancy (aka rich peoples cars) Craig was a frequent client (what the hell did he do to his cars, that made him go there over and over). Anyways, my dad usually worked on his different cars and my dad was able to keep some dialog with him over the years. My dad brought me over to see Craig at his work one time (along with my brother) and it was pretty cool. He gave us both 2 sets of some rare trading cards, which he had signed. like they were all of him, and he had signed them all.... those cards are lost somewhere in my house (man, what the hell happen to those cards.) Oh, and i also saw him at a charity event where the current/former 49ers played against the Palo Alto Police/Fire team. what was shocking was that he recognized me. Now that was cool!

I met Willy McGhee once. I was playing music at an event for "100 of the Bay Area's Greatest Black Athletes". I was in the parking lot taking our break when I saw him rushing out to his car. He was headed back to his wife who was in the hospital, but he stopped by to the event to address the room anyway. He even stopped for a minute or two to talk with me. One of the nicest most down to earth people I've ever met. I'm glad I got the chance to tell him how exciting he was to watch play, and thank him for the 1983 Cardinals Championship, and to wish his wife a steady recovery. You can tell how he conducts himself that he's a class act.

I've sat down and eaten with NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett on two separate occasions in the "Ford Quality Care" tent, back round the year he won the Winston Cup. The second time he actually remembered my name! He was a cool, laid-back guy, he sat back and BS with my dad about cars for about an hour the day before his race.

My dad was a Platinum Ford salesman and fleet manager so we got special pit passes and access to sponsor tents - where I met just about every Ford driver from 1997-2002. We have a hat that has over 30 signatures including Richard Petty, Dale Ernheart, Tony Stewart, etc...

My brother and I, actually had a flight with Glen Rice once. We sat next to him in the terminal in SFO for about 45 min - that guy was hilarious! He was hella conceded though - talking about how he "was the best shooter in the league" and "the most underrated player"

I met Donyell Marshall a few years ago when he came to my old church I used to go to for a christianing. During the reception, he signed me an autograph, even though he said he wasn't going to sign any one autographs. He's a good guy, and told me good luck in high school, basketball, and the rest of life. Was a really chill dude.